UE storage of UE context information

ABSTRACT

In certain embodiments, a (e.g., 5G) wireless network has a (e.g., CBSD) base station and any suitable number of instances of user equipment (UE). For each group of one or more UEs, one of the UEs is designated as a primary UE that stores UE context information for the other (secondary) UEs in the UE group. To connect to a secondary UE, the base station can retrieve the UE context information from the secondary UE&#39;s associated primary UE without having to retrieve the secondary UE&#39;s context information from the core network, thereby reducing backbone bandwidth usage and delays in connecting the secondary UE, especially when many secondary UE request connections within a short time interval.

BACKGROUND Field of the Disclosure

The present disclosure relates to wireless networks and, morespecifically but not exclusively, to wireless networks conforming to 5Gstandards.

Description of the Related Art

This section introduces aspects that may help facilitate a betterunderstanding of the disclosure. Accordingly, the statements of thissection are to be read in this light and are not to be understood asadmissions about what is prior art or what is not prior art.

FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram of a portion of a conventionalwireless network 100, such as a 5G wireless network. As shown in FIG. 1, a number of (in this example, four) instances of user equipment (UE)102 communicate wirelessly with a Citizens Broadband Radio Service(CBRS) Device (CBSD) 120, which functions as a wireless base station forthe UEs in the wireless network 100. As understood by those skilled inthe art, the wireless network 100 may have additional CBSDs, eachfunctioning as the wireless base station for additional UEs. Thoseskilled in the art will also understand that mobile UEs may move fromthe coverage area of one CBSD of the wireless network to the coveragearea of another CBSD of the wireless network 100.

As used herein, the term “user equipment” and its abbreviation “UE”refer to any suitable wireless device that can communicate with a CBSDof a 5G wireless network. A UE might be fixed (i.e., immobile) ormobile, might be battery power or line powered, and might or might nothave its own locating component, such as a GPS receiver. Examples of UEsinclude (without limitation) (i) mobile phones and other battery-poweredmobile devices having GPS receivers as well as (ii) battery-powered,fixed sensors that have no GPS receivers.

In order to preserve battery life, battery-powered UEs are powered downinto an idle state when they are not actively communicating with theCBSD. When such a UE has data to transmit to the CBSD, the UE transmitsa connection request message to the CBSD to transition from the idlestate to a connected state. The connection request message contains asuitable unique identifier, such as a Radio Network Temporary Identifier(RNTI), that uniquely identifies the UE.

In order to establish a connection with the UE, the CBSD needsadditional information about the UE—referred to collectively as UEcontext information—such as (but not limited to) the UE's InternationalMobile Subscriber Identifier (IMSI), the UE's International MobileEquipment Identifier (IMEI), and tracking area information for the UE.For both storage space reasons and security reasons, in conventionalimplementations, the CBSD does not maintain a local database of the UEcontext information for the UEs in its coverage area. Instead, UEcontext information for all of the UEs in the wireless network 100 isstored in a Mobility Management Entity (MME) 150 of the core network forthe wireless network 100.

When the CBSD receives a connection request from a UE, the CBSD uses theUE's RNTI in the connection request to transmit a request for the UE'scontext information from the MME (via the CBSD's cable modem 130 and theCable Modem Termination System (CMTS) network 140), the MME uses theUE's RNTI to retrieve and transmit the UE's context information (via theCMTS network and the cable modem) back to the CBSD, which then uses theUE's context information to establish a connection with the UE, therebyenabling the UE to transmit data and other messages to the CBSD and viceversa.

In a typical, real-world implementation of the wireless network 100,instead of only four UEs 102, there may be hundreds or even thousands ofUEs located within the coverage area of a single CBSD and many, if notall, of those UEs may want or need to communicate with (e.g., transmitdata to) the CBSD at the same time. In those situations, the CBSD has toretrieve from the MME the UE context information for each of those UEsin order to establish all of the requested connections. Such largenumbers of concurrent connection requests and the correspondingretrieval of all of that UE context information from the MME can resultin both significant usage of the wireless network's backhaul bandwidthand high processing latencies, which can result in undesirable delaysbefore many of the UEs are able to transmit their data to the CBSD.

SUMMARY

Problems in the prior art are addressed in accordance with theprinciples of the present disclosure by dividing the UEs currentlyassociated with each CBSD into one or more UE groups, where each UEgroup has a primary UE and zero, one, or more secondary UEs, where theprimary UE is configured to store the UE context information for all ofthe secondary UEs in its UE group. The CBSD maintains a local databasethat identifies and links the primary UE and secondary UEs for each ofits UE groups. When a secondary UE transmits a connection request to itsCBSD to transition from the idle state to the connected state, the CBSDuses the secondary UE's RNTI to identify the RNTI of the primary UE forthe secondary UE's UE group. The CBSD then uses the primary UE's RNTI toretrieve the primary UE's context information from the core network'sMME. The CBSD then uses the primary UE's context information toestablish a connection with the primary UE and retrieves, from theprimary UE, (at least) the secondary UE's context information, which theCBSD then uses to establish the requested connection with the secondaryUE. In this way, the CBSD is able to establish a connection with thesecondary UE (and, in some instances, with many other secondary UEs inthe same UE group) with only a single request for UE context information(i.e., the primary UE's context information) from the MME, therebyreducing backhaul bandwidth usage, reducing processing latencies, andreducing delays in the CBSD servicing its UEs.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the disclosure will become more fully apparent from thefollowing detailed description, the appended claims, and theaccompanying drawings in which like reference numerals identify similaror identical elements.

FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram of a portion of a conventional 5Gwireless network;

FIG. 2 is a simplified block diagram of a portion of a 5G wirelessnetwork, according to one embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a signal flow diagram showing the sequence of messaginginvolved when a number of secondary UEs in the UE group of FIG. 2request connections with the CBSD at the same time, according to onepossible implementation of the disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a simplified block diagram of a portion of a 5G wirelessnetwork, according to another embodiment of the disclosure; and

FIG. 5 is a signal flow diagram showing the sequence of messaginginvolved in a situation in which a mobile secondary UE of FIG. 4 movesfrom one tracking area of the CBSD to another tracking area of the CBSD,according to one possible implementation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Detailed illustrative embodiments of the present disclosure aredisclosed herein. However, specific structural and functional detailsdisclosed herein are merely representative for purposes of describingexample embodiments of the present disclosure. The present disclosuremay be embodied in many alternate forms and should not be construed aslimited to only the embodiments set forth herein. Further, theterminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of exampleembodiments of the disclosure.

As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the,” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. It further will be understood that the terms “comprises,”“comprising,” “contains,” “containing,” “includes,” and/or “including,”specify the presence of stated features, steps, or components, but donot preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features,steps, or components. It also should be noted that in some alternativeimplementations, the functions/acts noted may occur out of the ordernoted in the figures. For example, two figures shown in succession mayin fact be executed substantially concurrently or may sometimes beexecuted in the reverse order, depending upon the functions/actsinvolved.

FIG. 2 is a simplified block diagram of a portion of a 5G wirelessnetwork 200, according to one embodiment of the disclosure. The wirelessnetwork 200 is analogous to the conventional wireless network 100 ofFIG. 1 with analogous elements having similar labels. In someimplementations, the cable modem 230, the CMTS network 240, and the MME250 of FIG. 2 are identical to the corresponding elements of FIG. 1 .

As shown in FIG. 2 , the four UEs are represented as being a primary(PR) UE 204 and three secondary (SE) UEs 202(1)-202(3), where the threesecondary UEs 202 are configured to operate the same as the UEs 102 ofFIG. 1 . The primary UE 204 and the three secondary UEs 202 are shown inFIG. 2 as being members of the same UE group 210. In general, a UE groupmay have a primary UE and zero, one, or more secondary UEs, and a CBSDmay have its UEs divided into one or more UE groups.

The CBSD 220 of FIG. 2 maintains a local database that maps, for the UEgroup 210, the unique RNTIs of the secondary UEs 202 to and from theRNTI of the primary UE 204, which stores the UE context information forthe secondary UEs 202 in the UE group 210. As such, when one of thesecondary UEs 202 wants to establish a connection with the CBSD 220, theCBSD can retrieve the UE context information for that secondary UE fromthe primary UE 204 without having to retrieve that UE contextinformation from the MME 250. When many secondary UEs requestconnections with the CBSD at the same time, the CBSD's ability toretrieve UE context information from the primary UE rather than from theMME can greatly reduce the latency involved in retrieving thatinformation and thereby avoid undesirable delays in the transmission ofthe secondary UEs' data to the CBSD.

FIG. 3 is a signal flow diagram showing the sequence of messaginginvolved when a number of secondary UEs 202 in the UE group 210 requestconnections with the CBSD 220 of FIG. 2 at the same time, according toone possible implementation of the disclosure. The sequence in FIG. 3 isbased on the assumption that, just prior to the start of that sequence,the primary UE 204 and the requesting secondary UEs are in the idlestate.

The processing begins with Step 1, where the secondary UEs transmitconnection requests to the CBSD 220 at (approximately) the same time.(Note that the primary UE 204 might also transmit a connection requestto the CBSD at this time, but that particular situation is not shownhere.) The CBSD uses the secondary UEs' RNTIs contained in thoseconnection requests to determine that those secondary UEs are in thesame UE group 210 as the primary UE 204 and, in Step 2, the CBSD 220sends a request (containing the primary UE's RNTI) to the MME 250 forthe UE context information of the primary UE. In Step 3, the MMEprovides the primary UE's context information to the CBSD.

In Step 4, the CBSD uses the primary UE's context information to pagethe primary UE in order to transition the primary UE from the idle stateto a connected state, and, in Step 5, the primary UE transmits a pageresponse to the CBSD to establish a connection between the primary UEand the CBSD.

In Step 6, the CBSD transmits a request for UE context information tothe primary UE and, in Step 7, the primary UE transmits all of its UEcontext information (i.e., for all of the secondary UEs 202 in its UEgroup 210). Note that, in this implementation, the primary UE alwaystransmits all of its UE context information to the CBSD whenever any oneor more or even all of the secondary UEs 202 request a connection. Inthis way, the CBSD needs to request context information from the primaryUE only once for each set of concurrent communication sessions with anyor all of the associated secondary UEs. Note that, in someimplementations of the disclosure, the CBSD and the primary UE may alsosupport an operation where the CBSD is able to request retrieval, fromthe primary UE, of the UE context information for a single, specifiedsecondary UE in the same UE group.

In Step 8, the CBSD uses the appropriate secondary UE contextinformation received from the primary UE to transmit connection requestresponses to the multiple secondary UEs' original connection requests ofStep 1 to establish a connection with each of those secondary UEs.

In this way, the CBSD 220 of FIG. 2 can establish connections with anynumber of the secondary UEs 202 in the UE group 210 with only a singlerequest to the MME 250, thereby greatly reducing both the backhaultraffic and the delays in establishing those connections compared to theconventional technology of the wireless network 100 of FIG. 1 .

Note that, when the CBSD 220 wants to initiate a connection with aparticular secondary UE (or multiple connections with multiple secondaryUEs of the same UE group), the processing may start with Step 2 of FIG.3 and end with the CBSD paging the one or more secondary UEs and thosesecondary UEs responding, instead of Step 8.

When a new UE is added within the coverage area of a CBSD, eitherbecause it is a newly provisioned UE or because it is a mobile UE thathas just physically moved into the coverage area of the CBSD, the new UEand the CBSD will perform conventional operations to ensure that UEcontext information (including an RNTI) for the new UE is generated andstored in the MME. In addition, the CBSD will either (i) assign the newUE as a secondary UE to an existing UE group and instruct the primary UEfor that existing UE group to add the new UE's context information tothe primary UE's store or (ii) start a new UE group with the new UEdesignated as the primary UE for that new UE group.

As mentioned previously, a CBSD may have hundreds or even thousands ofUEs currently located within its coverage area. In order to reducestorage requirements at a primary UE and avoid undesirable latencies intransmitting UE context information from a primary UE to the CBSD, incertain implementations, the UEs for a CBSD may be divided into multipleUE groups, with each UE group having a primary UE and no more than aspecified maximum number of secondary UEs.

FIG. 4 is a simplified block diagram of a portion of a 5G wirelessnetwork 400, according to another embodiment of the disclosure. Thewireless network 400 is analogous to the wireless network 200 of FIG. 2with analogous elements having similar labels. Note that the cable modemand CMTS network of the network 400 are not shown in FIG. 4 . As shownin FIG. 4 , the UEs are organized into two UE groups 410(1) and 410(2),where the UE group 410(1) has primary UE 404(1) and two secondary UEs402(1,1)-(1,2), while the UE group 410(2) has primary UE 404(2) and twosecondary UEs 402(2,1)-402(2,2).

In some implementations of the disclosure, the UEs are divided into UEgroups based on their geographical locations within the coverage area ofthe CBSD. In some implementations, the coverage area of a CBSD isdivided into multiple, contiguous tracking areas that collectively spanthe CBSD's coverage area and where the UEs currently located within eachtracking area are organized into one or more UE groups, depending on howmany UEs are currently located within the tracking area.

In some implementations of the wireless network 400 of FIG. 4 , some oreven all of the UEs may be fixed, but in other implementations, some oreven all of the UEs may be mobile, where a mobile UE can physically movefrom being within one tracking area of a CBSD to being within adifferent tracking area of that same CBSD. The wireless network 400 ofFIG. 4 is configured to handle such situations by updating both thedefinitions of its UE groups and the configurations of its primary UEsas needed. Note that this capability is based on the ability of the CBSD420 to determine the current locations of its mobile UEs at least to theresolution of the CBSD's tracking areas. Such ability may rely on themobile UEs having GPS receivers that enable the UEs to inform the CBSDof their current tracking areas. Note further that mobile UEs are alsoable to move from the coverage area of one CBSD of a wireless network tothe coverage area of another CBSD of the same wireless network (or evenof a different wireless network). The wireless network(s) are alsoconfigured to handle those situations by extending the principlesdescribed herein to those situations.

FIG. 5 is a signal flow diagram showing the sequence of messaginginvolved in a situation in which a mobile secondary UE 402 of FIG. 4moves from one tracking area of the CBSD 420 to another tracking area ofthe CBSD 420, according to one possible implementation. In thisparticular situation, secondary UE 402(2,1) of FIG. 4 moves from thegeographical area corresponding to the UE group 410(2) to thegeographical area corresponding to the UE group 410(1). As with thesequence in FIG. 4 , the sequence in FIG. 5 is based on the assumptionthat, just prior to the start of that sequence, the primary UEs 204(1)and 204(2) and all of their associated secondary UEs 202(1,1)-202(2,2)are in the idle state.

The processing of FIG. 5 begins at Step 1, after the secondary UE402(2,1) has moved into the coverage area of the UE group 410(1), withthe secondary UE 402(2,1) transmitting a connection request to the CBSD420. In response, the CBSD uses the secondary UE's RNTI to determinethat the primary UE 404(2) is the current primary UE for the secondaryUE 402(2,1) and, in Step 2, the CBSD uses that primary UE's RNTI torequest the UE context information for the primary UE 404(2) from theMME 450. In Step 3, the MME 450 provides the UE context information forthe primary UE 404(2) to the CBSD. In Step 4, the CBSD uses thatretrieved UE context information to page the primary UE 404(2). In Step5, the primary UE 404(2) transmits a page response to the CBSD toconnect to the CBSD. In Step 6, the CBSD transmits a request to theprimary UE 404(2) to retrieve the UE context information for (at least)the secondary UE 402(2,1). In Step 7, the primary UE 404(2) transmitsthe UE context information for (at least) the secondary UE 402(2,1) tothe CBSD. In Step 8, the CBSD uses the UE context information for thesecondary UE 402(2,1) to transmit a connection request response to thesecondary UE 402(2,1) to establish a connection between the CBSD and thesecondary UE 402(2,1).

As part of the establishment of the connection between the CBSD and thesecondary UE 402(2,1), the secondary UE 402(2,1) informs the CBSD of itscurrent location within the tracking area that corresponds to UE group410(1) and the CBSD recognizes that the secondary UE 402(2,1) has movedand now needs to be reassigned from UE group 410(2) to another UE group,in this case, UE group 410(1). As such, in Step 9, the CBSD instructsthe primary UE 404(2) to delete the UE context information for thesecondary UE 402(2,1) from its local UE context information database.

In addition, the CBSD determines that the primary UE 404(1) is theprimary UE for the secondary UE 402(2,1)'s new UE group 410(1) and, inStep 10, the CBSD uses the RNTI of the primary UE 404(1) to request theUE context information for that primary UE from the MME 450. In Step 11,the MME 450 provides the UE context information for the primary UE404(1) to the CBSD. In Step 12, the CBSD uses that retrieved UE contextinformation to page the primary UE 404(1). In Step 13, the primary UE404(1) transmits a page response to the CBSD to connect to the CBSD. InStep 14, the CBSD transmits the UE context information for the secondaryUE 402(2,1) to the primary UE 404(1) and instructs the primary UE 404(1)to store the UE context information for the secondary UE 402(2,1) in itsstore of UE context information for UE group 410(1).

Note that, in other implementations, rather than retrieving the UEcontext information for the secondary UE 402(2,1) from the primary UE404(2), the CBSD retrieves that UE context information from the MME 450,which, like the conventional MME 150 of FIG. 1 , maintains the UEcontext information for all primary and secondary UEs in the network400.

Note that, instead of a mobile secondary UE moving from one trackingarea to another tracking area of the same CBSD, it is also possible fora mobile primary UE to move from one tracking area to another trackingarea. For example, referring again to FIG. 4 , the primary UE 404(2) maymove from the geographical area corresponding to the UE group 410(2) tothe geographical area corresponding to the UE group 410(1). The CBSD mayrecognize that that has occurred after the primary UE 404(2) establishesa connection with the CBSD and informs the CBSD of its new trackingarea. In that case, the CBSD performs operations to reconfigure theprimary UE 404(2) as a secondary UE in the UE group 410(1) andreconfigure one of the secondary UEs in the UE group 410(2) (forexample, secondary UE 402(2,2)) to be the new primary UE for that UEgroup. These operations involve:

-   -   The CBSD retrieving the stored UE context information from the        primary UE 404(2);    -   The CBSD instructing the primary UE 404(2) to delete its stored        UE context information;    -   The CBSD reconfiguring the secondary UE 402(2,2) to be the new        primary UE for the UE group 410(2) by instructing the secondary        UE 402(2,2) to store UE context information for the remaining        UEs in UE group 410(2); and    -   The CBSD instructing the primary UE 404(1) for the UE group        410(1) to add the UE context information for the primary UE        404(2) to its local UE context information database to complete        the process of reconfiguring the primary UE 404(2) to be a        secondary UE of the UE group 410(1).

As described above, a secondary UE is capable of being reconfigured tobe a primary UE, and vice versa. In some implementations, some of thesecondary UEs might not be able to be configured to be primary UEs,where the CBSD knows which secondary UEs do and which secondary UEs donot have that capability.

The processing involved in handling mobile UEs that move betweendifferent tracking areas of a CBSD as discussed above and shown in FIG.5 for secondary UEs and as discussed above for primary UEs is based onthe assumption that the CBSD will organize its UEs based on theirgeographical locations within the coverage area of the CBSD. Inalternative implementations of the disclosure, that assumption is notmade. Instead, in certain implementations, whenever a new UE appears inthe coverage area of a CBSD, the CBSD assigns that UE to be either asecondary UE of an existing UE group or the primary UE of a new UE groupand that UE will retain that assignment as long as it remains within thecoverage area of the CBSD, even if the UE moves between differenttracking areas of that CBSD. In those implementations, the handoffprocessing between different UE groups described above for UEs movingbetween different tracking areas of a CBSD does not have to beperformed. As long as the UE remains somewhere within the coverage areaof the CBSD, the UE will retain its original assignment within the sameUE group as either the UE group's primary UE or one of the UE group'ssecondary UEs.

Only when a UE is removed from the coverage area of the CBSD will theCBSD have to adjust the UE group of that removed UE. In particular, ifthe removed UE is a secondary UE, then the CBSD will instruct theprimary UE for that UE group to delete the UE context information forthe removed secondary UE, and, if the removed UE is a primary UE, thenthe CBSD will need to designate one of the secondary UEs of that UEgroup to be the new primary UE for that UE group. This latter processingmay involve the CBSD having to request the UE context information forthe remaining secondary UEs in the UE group from the MME.

The adjusting of a UE group described in the previous paragraph requiresthe CBSD to know that the UE has been removed from its coverage area. Insome implementations, the CBSD may keep track of the last time that eachof its UEs was connected with the CBSD and, when the duration since thatlast time reaches a specified threshold level, the CBSD assumes that theUE has been removed. In addition or alternatively, if the CBSD pages aUE and the UE does not respond, then the CBSD assumes that the UE hasbeen removed.

Although the disclosure has been described in the context of 5G wirelessnetworks that operate in the CBRS spectrum, those skilled in the artwill understand that the disclosure can be implemented as 5G wirelessnetworks that operate in other 5G spectra as well as wireless networksconforming to communications standards other than 5G.

In certain embodiments, the present disclosure is a base station for awireless network and a method for a base station of a wireless network,the base station comprising a memory and at least one hardwareprocessor, wherein the base station retrieves, from a first userequipment (UE), UE context information for at least one second UEdifferent from the first UE, and uses the retrieved UE contextinformation to communicate with the second UE.

In at least some of the above embodiments, the wireless network is a 5Gwireless network, and the base station is a Citizens Broadband RadioService (CBRS) device (CBSD).

In at least some of the above embodiments, the wireless network has aplurality of UEs associated with the base station; the base station isconfigured to support the plurality of UEs being divided into one ormore UE groups, each UE group comprising a primary UE and zero, one, ormore secondary UEs, wherein the primary UE is configured to store UEcontext information for each secondary UE in the UE group; and the firstand second UEs are part of a first UE group; the first UE is the primaryUE for the first UE group; and the second UE is a secondary UE in thefirst UE group.

In at least some of the above embodiments, when the second UE is in anidle state and has data to transmit to the base station. the second UEtransmits a connection request to the base station; the base stationdetermines that the first UE is the primary UE for the second UE; thebase station retrieves UE context information for the first UE from acore network for the wireless network; the base station uses the firstUE's context information to establish a connection with the first UE;the base station retrieves the second UE's context information from thefirst UE; and the base station uses the second UE's context informationto communicate with the second UE.

In at least some of the above embodiments, when the base station detectsthat the second UE has moved from a location of the first UE group to alocation of a second UE group, the base station communicates with thefirst UE to remove the second UE from the first UE group; and the basestation communicates with the primary UE for the second UE group to addthe first UE to the second UE group.

In at least some of the above embodiments, when the base station detectsthat the first UE has moved from a location of the first UE group to alocation of a second UE group, the base station communicates with asecondary UE of the first UE group to configure the secondary UE as thenew primary UE for the first UE group; and the base station communicateswith the first UE and with the primary UE for the second UE group toconfigure the first UE as a secondary UE of the second UE group.

In certain embodiments, the present disclosure is a first UE for awireless network, the first UE comprising a memory and at least onehardware processor, wherein the first UE is configured to store UEcontext information for at least one second UE different from the firstUE; and transmit the UE context information for the second UE to a basestation of the wireless network.

In at least some of the above embodiments, the wireless network is a 5Gwireless network; and the base station is a CBSD.

In at least some of the above embodiments, the wireless network has aplurality of UEs associated with the base station; the base station isconfigured to support the plurality of UEs being divided into one ormore UE groups, each UE group comprising a primary UE and zero, one, ormore secondary UEs, wherein the primary UE is configured to store UEcontext information for each secondary UE in the UE group; and the firstand second UEs are part of a first UE group; the first UE is the primaryUE for the first UE group; and the second UE is a secondary UE in thefirst UE group.

In at least some of the above embodiments, when the second UE is in anidle state and has data to transmit to the base station, the second UEtransmits a connection request to the base station; the base stationdetermines that the first UE is the primary UE for the second UE; thebase station retrieves UE context information for the first UE from acore network for the wireless network; the base station uses the firstUE's context information to establish a connection with the first UE;the base station retrieves the second UE's context information from thefirst UE; and the base station uses the second UE's context informationto communicate with the second UE.

In at least some of the above embodiments, when the base station detectsthat the second UE has moved from a location of the first UE group to alocation of a second UE group, the base station communicates with thefirst UE to remove the second UE from the first UE group; and the basestation communicates with the primary UE for the second UE group to addthe first UE to the second UE group.

In at least some of the above embodiments, when the base station detectsthat the first UE has moved from a location of the first UE group to alocation of a second UE group, the base station communicates with asecondary UE of the first UE group to configure the secondary UE as thenew primary UE for the first UE group; and the base station communicateswith the first UE and with the primary UE for the second UE group toconfigure the first UE as a secondary UE of the second UE group.

Embodiments of the disclosure may be implemented as (analog, digital, ora hybrid of both analog and digital) circuit-based processes, includingpossible implementation as a single integrated circuit (such as an ASICor an FPGA), a multi-chip module, a single card, or a multi-card circuitpack. As would be apparent to one skilled in the art, various functionsof circuit elements may also be implemented as processing blocks in asoftware program. Such software may be employed in, for example, adigital signal processor, micro-controller, general-purpose computer, orother processor.

As used herein in reference to an element and a standard, the terms“compatible” and “conform” mean that the element communicates with otherelements in a manner wholly or partially specified by the standard, andwould be recognized by other elements as sufficiently capable ofcommunicating with the other elements in the manner specified by thestandard. A compatible or conforming element does not need to operateinternally in a manner specified by the standard.

As will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art, the presentdisclosure may be embodied as an apparatus (including, for example, asystem, a machine, a device, a computer program product, and/or thelike), as a method (including, for example, a business process, acomputer-implemented process, and/or the like), or as any combination ofthe foregoing. Accordingly, embodiments of the present disclosure maytake the form of an entirely software embodiment (including firmware,resident software, micro-code, and the like), an entirely hardwareembodiment, or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspectsthat may generally be referred to herein as a “system.”

Embodiments of the disclosure can be manifest in the form of methods andapparatuses for practicing those methods. Embodiments of the disclosurecan also be manifest in the form of program code embodied in tangiblemedia, such as magnetic recording media, optical recording media, solidstate memory, floppy diskettes, CD-ROMs, hard drives, or any othernon-transitory machine-readable storage medium, wherein, when theprogram code is loaded into and executed by a machine, such as acomputer, the machine becomes an apparatus for practicing thedisclosure. Embodiments of the disclosure can also be manifest in theform of program code, for example, stored in a non-transitorymachine-readable storage medium including being loaded into and/orexecuted by a machine, wherein, when the program code is loaded into andexecuted by a machine, such as a computer, the machine becomes anapparatus for practicing the disclosure. When implemented on ageneral-purpose processor, the program code segments combine with theprocessor to provide a unique device that operates analogously tospecific logic circuits.

Any suitable processor-usable/readable or computer-usable/readablestorage medium may be utilized. The storage medium may be (withoutlimitation) an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared,or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device. A more-specific,non-exhaustive list of possible storage media include a magnetic tape, aportable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), aread-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory(EPROM) or Flash memory, a portable compact disc read-only memory(CD-ROM), an optical storage device, and a magnetic storage device. Notethat the storage medium could even be paper or another suitable mediumupon which the program is printed, since the program can beelectronically captured via, for instance, optical scanning of theprinting, then compiled, interpreted, or otherwise processed in asuitable manner including but not limited to optical characterrecognition, if necessary, and then stored in a processor or computermemory. In the context of this disclosure, a suitable storage medium maybe any medium that can contain or store a program for use by or inconnection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

It should be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that anyblock diagrams herein represent conceptual views of illustrativecircuitry embodying the principles of the disclosure. Similarly, it willbe appreciated that any flow charts, flow diagrams, state transitiondiagrams, pseudo code, and the like represent various processes whichmay be substantially represented in computer readable medium and soexecuted by a computer or processor, whether or not such computer orprocessor is explicitly shown.

Unless explicitly stated otherwise, each numerical value and rangeshould be interpreted as being approximate as if the word “about” or“approximately” preceded the value or range.

It will be further understood that various changes in the details,materials, and arrangements of the parts which have been described andillustrated in order to explain embodiments of this disclosure may bemade by those skilled in the art without departing from embodiments ofthe disclosure encompassed by the following claims.

In this specification including any claims, the term “each” may be usedto refer to one or more specified characteristics of a plurality ofpreviously recited elements or steps. When used with the open-ended term“comprising,” the recitation of the term “each” does not excludeadditional, unrecited elements or steps. Thus, it will be understoodthat an apparatus may have additional, unrecited elements and a methodmay have additional, unrecited steps, where the additional, unrecitedelements or steps do not have the one or more specified characteristics.

The use of figure numbers and/or figure reference labels in the claimsis intended to identify one or more possible embodiments of the claimedsubject matter in order to facilitate the interpretation of the claims.Such use is not to be construed as necessarily limiting the scope ofthose claims to the embodiments shown in the corresponding figures.

It should be understood that the steps of the exemplary methods setforth herein are not necessarily required to be performed in the orderdescribed, and the order of the steps of such methods should beunderstood to be merely exemplary. Likewise, additional steps may beincluded in such methods, and certain steps may be omitted or combined,in methods consistent with various embodiments of the disclosure.

Although the elements in the following method claims, if any, arerecited in a particular sequence with corresponding labeling, unless theclaim recitations otherwise imply a particular sequence for implementingsome or all of those elements, those elements are not necessarilyintended to be limited to being implemented in that particular sequence.

All documents mentioned herein are hereby incorporated by reference intheir entirety or alternatively to provide the disclosure for which theywere specifically relied upon.

Reference herein to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that aparticular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connectionwith the embodiment can be included in at least one embodiment of thedisclosure. The appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” in variousplaces in the specification are not necessarily all referring to thesame embodiment, nor are separate or alternative embodiments necessarilymutually exclusive of other embodiments. The same applies to the term“implementation.”

The embodiments covered by the claims in this application are limited toembodiments that (1) are enabled by this specification and (2)correspond to statutory subject matter. Non-enabled embodiments andembodiments that correspond to non-statutory subject matter areexplicitly disclaimed even if they fall within the scope of the claims.

As used herein and in the claims, the term “provide” with respect to anapparatus or with respect to a system, device, or component encompassesdesigning or fabricating the apparatus, system, device, or component;causing the apparatus, system, device, or component to be designed orfabricated; and/or obtaining the apparatus, system, device, or componentby purchase, lease, rental, or other contractual arrangement.

Unless otherwise specified herein, the use of the ordinal adjectives“first,” “second,” “third,” etc., to refer to an object of a pluralityof like objects merely indicates that different instances of such likeobjects are being referred to, and is not intended to imply that thelike objects so referred-to have to be in a corresponding order orsequence, either temporally, spatially, in ranking, or in any othermanner.

What is claimed is:
 1. A base station for a wireless network, the basestation comprising a memory and at least one hardware processor, whereinthe base station is configured to: retrieve, from a first user equipment(UE), UE context information for at least one second UE different fromthe first UE; and use the retrieved UE context information tocommunicate directly with the second UE, wherein: the wireless networkhas a plurality of UEs associated with the base station; the basestation is configured to support the plurality of UEs being divided intoone or more UE groups, each UE group comprising a primary UE and zero,one, or more secondary Ues, wherein the primary UE is configured tostore UE context information for each secondary UE in the UE group; andthe first and second UEs are part of a first UE group; the first UE isthe primary UE for the first UE group; and the second UE is a secondaryUE in the first UE group.
 2. The base station of claim 1, wherein: thewireless network is a 5G wireless network; and the base station is aCitizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) device (CBSD).
 3. The basestation of claim 1, wherein: the base station receives a connectionrequest from the second UE; the base station determines that the firstUE is the primary UE for the second UE; the base station retrieves UEcontext information for the first UE from a core network for thewireless network; the base station uses the first UE's contextinformation to establish a connection with the first UE; the basestation retrieves the second UE's context information from the first UE;and the base station uses the second UE's context information tocommunicate with the second UE.
 4. The base station of claim 1, wherein:the base station detects that the second UE has moved from a location ofthe first UE group to a location of a second UE group; the base stationcommunicates with the first UE to remove the second UE from the first UEgroup; and the base station communicates with the primary UE for thesecond UE group to add the first UE to the second UE group.
 5. The basestation of claim 1, wherein: the base station detects that the first UEhas moved from a location of the first UE group to a location of asecond UE group; the base station communicates with a secondary UE ofthe first UE group to configure the secondary UE as the new primary UEfor the first UE group; and the base station communicates with the firstUE and with the primary UE for the second UE group to configure thefirst UE as a secondary UE of the second UE group.
 6. The base stationof claim 1, wherein the UE context information for the second UEcomprises one or more of: an International Mobile Subscriber Identifier(IMSI) for the second UE; an International Mobile Equipment Identifier(IMEI) for the second UE; and tracking area information for the secondUE.
 7. The base station of claim 6, wherein the base station does notmaintain a database containing the UE context information for the secondUE.
 8. A method for a base station of a wireless network, the methodcomprising: the base station retrieving, from a first UE, UE contextinformation for at least one second UE different from the first UE; andthe base station using the retrieved UE context information tocommunicate directly with the second UE, wherein: the wireless networkhas a plurality of UEs associated with the base station; the basestation supports the plurality of UEs being divided into one or more UEgroups, each UE group comprising a primary UE and zero, one, or moresecondary Ues, wherein the primary UE stores UE context information foreach secondary UE in the UE group; and the first and second UEs are partof a first UE group; the first UE is the primary UE for the first UEgroup; and the second UE is a secondary UE in the first UE group.
 9. Themethod of claim 8, wherein: the base station receives a connectionrequest from the second UE; the base station determines that the firstUE is the primary UE for the second UE; the base station retrieves UEcontext information for the first UE from a core network for thewireless network; the base station uses the first UE's contextinformation to establish a connection with the first UE; the basestation retrieves the second UE's context information from the first UE;and the base station uses the second UE's context information tocommunicate with the second UE.
 10. The method of claim 8, wherein theUE context information for the second UE comprises one or more of: anIMSI for the second UE; an IMEI for the second UE; and tracking areainformation for the second UE.
 11. The base station of claim 10, whereinthe base station does not maintain a database containing the UE contextinformation for the second UE.
 12. A first UE for a wireless network,the first UE comprising a memory and at least one hardware processor,wherein the first UE is configured to: store UE context information forat least one second UE different from the first UE; receive, from a basestation of the wireless network, a request for the UE contextinformation for the second UE; and transmit the UE context informationfor the second UE to the base station of the wireless network to enablethe base station to use the retrieved UE context information tocommunicate directly with the second UE, wherein: the wireless networkhas a plurality of UEs associated with the base station; the pluralityof Ues are divided into one or more UE groups, each UE group comprisinga primary UE and zero, one, or more secondary Ues, wherein the primaryUE is configured to store UE context information for each secondary UEin the UE group; and the first and second Ues are part of a first UEgroup; the first UE is the primary UE for the first UE group; and thesecond UE is a secondary UE in the first UE group.
 13. The first UE ofclaim 12, wherein: the wireless network is a 5G wireless network; andthe base station is a CBSD.
 14. The first UE of claim 12, wherein thefirst UE receives communication from the base station to remove thesecond UE from the first UE group.
 15. The first UE of claim 12,wherein: the first UE has moved from a location of the first UE group toa location of a second UE group; and the first UE communicates with thebase station to configure the first UE as a secondary UE of the secondUE group.
 16. A method for a first UE of a wireless network, the methodcomprising: the first UE storing UE context information for at least onesecond UE different from the first UE; the first UE receiving, from abase station of the wireless network, a request for the UE contextinformation for the second UE; and the first UE transmitting the UEcontext information for the second UE to the base station of thewireless network to enable the base station to use the retrieved UEcontext information to communicate directly with the second UE, wherein:the wireless network has a plurality of UEs associated with the basestation; the plurality of UEs are divided into one or more UE groups,each UE group comprising a primary UE and zero, one, or more secondaryUes, wherein the primary UE stores UE context information for eachsecondary UE in the UE group; and the first and second UEs are part of afirst UE group; the first UE is the primary UE for the first UE group;and the second UE is a secondary UE in the first UE group.
 17. The firstUE of claim 12, wherein the UE context information for the second UEcomprises one or more of: an IMSI for the second UE; an IMEI for thesecond UE; and tracking area information for the second UE.
 18. Themethod of claim 16, wherein the UE context information for the second UEcomprises one or more of: an IMSI for the second UE; an IMEI for thesecond UE; and tracking area information for the second UE.
 19. A basestation for a wireless network, the base station comprising a memory andat least one hardware processor, wherein the base station is configuredto: retrieve, from a first user equipment (UE), UE context informationfor at least one second UE different from the first UE; and use theretrieved UE context information to communicate with the second UE,wherein: the wireless network has a plurality of UEs associated with thebase station; the base station is configured to support the plurality ofUEs being divided into one or more UE groups, each UE group comprising aprimary UE and zero, one, or more secondary UEs, wherein the primary UEis configured to store UE context information for each secondary UE inthe UE group; the first and second UEs are part of a first UE group; thefirst UE is the primary UE for the first UE group; and the second UE isa secondary UE in the first UE group.
 20. The base station of claim 19,wherein: the base station receives a connection request from the secondUE; the base station determines that the first UE is the primary UE forthe second UE; the base station retrieves UE context information for thefirst UE from a core network for the wireless network; the base stationuses the first UE's context information to establish a connection withthe first UE; the base station retrieves the second UE's contextinformation from the first UE; and the base station uses the second UE'scontext information to communicate with the second UE.
 21. The basestation of claim 19, wherein: the base station detects that the secondUE has moved from a location of the first UE group to a location of asecond UE group; the base station communicates with the first UE toremove the second UE from the first UE group; and the base stationcommunicates with the primary UE for the second UE group to add thefirst UE to the second UE group.
 22. The base station of claim 19wherein: the base station detects that the first UE has moved from alocation of the first UE group to a location of a second UE group; thebase station communicates with a secondary UE of the first UE group toconfigure the secondary UE as the new primary UE for the first UE group;and the base station communicates with the first UE and with the primaryUE for the second UE group to configure the first UE as a secondary UEof the second UE group.
 23. A method for a base station of a wirelessnetwork, the method comprising: the base station retrieving, from afirst UE, UE context information for at least one second UE differentfrom the first UE; and the base station using the retrieved UE contextinformation to communicate with the second UE, wherein: the wirelessnetwork has a plurality of UEs associated with the base station; thebase station supports the plurality of UEs being divided into one ormore UE groups, each UE group comprising a primary UE and zero, one, ormore secondary UEs, wherein the primary UE stores UE context informationfor each secondary UE in the UE group; the first and second UEs are partof a first UE group; the first UE is the primary UE for the first UEgroup; and the second UE is a secondary UE in the first UE group. 24.The method of claim 23, wherein: the base station receives a connectionrequest from the second UE; the base station determines that the firstUE is the primary UE for the second UE; the base station retrieves UEcontext information for the first UE from a core network for thewireless network; the base station uses the first UE's contextinformation to establish a connection with the first UE; the basestation retrieves the second UE's context information from the first UE;and the base station uses the second UE's context information tocommunicate with the second UE.
 25. A first UE for a wireless network,the first UE comprising a memory and at least one hardware processor,wherein the first UE is configured to: store UE context information forat least one second UE different from the first UE; and transmit the UEcontext information for the second UE to a base station of the wirelessnetwork, wherein: the wireless network has a plurality of UEs associatedwith the base station; the plurality of UEs are divided into one or moreUE groups, each UE group comprising a primary UE and zero, one, or moresecondary UEs, wherein the primary UE is configured to store UE contextinformation for each secondary UE in the UE group; the first and secondUEs are part of a first UE group; the first UE is the primary UE for thefirst UE group; and the second UE is a secondary UE in the first UEgroup.
 26. The first UE of claim 25, wherein the first UE receivescommunication from the base station to remove the second UE from thefirst UE group.
 27. The first UE of claim 25, wherein: the first UE hasmoved from a location of the first UE group to a location of a second UEgroup; and the first UE communicates with the base station to configurethe first UE as a secondary UE of the second UE group.
 28. A method fora first UE of a wireless network, the method comprising: the first UEstoring UE context information for at least one second UE different fromthe first UE; and the first UE transmitting the UE context informationfor the second UE to a base station of the wireless network, wherein:the wireless network has a plurality of UEs associated with the basestation; the plurality of UEs are divided into one or more UE groups,each UE group comprising a primary UE and zero, one, or more secondaryUEs, wherein the primary UE stores UE context information for eachsecondary UE in the UE group; the first and second UEs are part of afirst UE group; the first UE is the primary UE for the first UE group;and the second UE is a secondary UE in the first UE group.